serpentinus

Forms

serpentīnus (feminine serpentīna, neuter serpentīnum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin serpēns (“serpent, snake”) + -īnus,^[1][2][3] an adjective of Christian Latin;^[2][4] serpēns is itself the present participle of serpō (“to creep, crawl”).^[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is the Latin Hermas,^[5] and the adjective means “of a serpent”, “belonging to a snake”.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

In the Church Fathers it is used both literally and figuratively: Jerome uses it of a serpent,^[6][7] Ambrose speaks of serpentine breasts,^[2] Augustine of a brood of serpents,^[2] and Cyprian uses it in the sense “devilish”.^[7] Augustine also uses the plural Serpentīnī as the name of the Ophites, a heretical sect.^[6][7]

Medieval Latin kept both uses: Niermeyer gives “devilish”,^[8] and the DMLBS has it of snakes, of the serpent of Eden in Genesis (Eva serpentino seducta affatu, “Eve, led astray by the serpent's speech”, in Bede), and of cunning or venom in figurative contexts.^[9] It is the source of Italian serpentino.^[7]

Timeline

• 174–189 AD – The Latin Hermas, Köbler's earliest source.^[5]
• c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose uses it in his commentary on Luke.^[2][5]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine names the Ophites Serpentīnī.^[6][5]
• 5th century AD – Victor of Vita writes of a serpentīna prōlēs, a brood of snakes.^[3][5]
• Middle Ages – British writers use it of the serpent of Eden and of devilish cunning.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a serpent or snake, snakelike.^[2][3][10]
2. (figurative) Devilish, cunning, deceitful.^[7][8][11]
3. (plural, as a noun) Serpentīnī: the Ophites, a heretical sect.^[6][7]

Related words

• serpēns
• serpō
• English serpentine

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ VoLat: Vocabolario della Lingua Latina (2018), Milan: Hoepli
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
11. ^ Jeanneau, Gérard; Woitrain, Jean-Paul; Hassid, Jean-Claude (2017), Dictionnaire latin-français, online ed., prima-elementa.fr